Chapter 8

"The eye sees not itself

But by reflection, by some other things."

—Shakespeare; Julius Caesar

After the incident—it couldn't really be called a fight—with Ori, Holly did try to be nicer to the others. It was an experiment, she told herself, just to see what would happen.

At first her politeness was treated with mild surprise, but that was the extent of the Company's reactions. She still kept mostly to herself. There were a few dwarves in the Company with whom she had not spoken to at all.

Everyone also gained the valuable knowledge that Holly should not be allowed to cook, ever. One night, she'd volunteered, which had led to the Eyeball Incident that nobody was willing to talk about.

After another week of traveling, the shadow of the Misty Mountains loomed behind the fog, finally visible. It was rather inspiring, the sight assuring them that they really had been making progress.

When they set up camp that night, Thorin assigned Holly to the second watch with Bilbo. Holly despised taking second watch. It meant that her sleep was split into two parts, and she'd have to make twice the effort to fall asleep and wake up again.

The sky was alight with stars when Bifur shook her awake. Holly settled herself against a boulder and stared down the hillside. She could already tell that this was going to be a boring night.

Bilbo groggily shuffled to where Holly was sitting and made himself comfortable next to her. They sat in silence for a while, listening to the crickets and the hollow wind.

"Carnil is looking especially bright tonight," the hobbit finally said. He didn't know why he was still trying to make conversation with her. Perhaps he was still trying to figure her out. It was just something to pass the time.

Holly looked over at him, eyebrows raised in mild confusion. "Who?"

Bilbo pointed at the sky. "Carnil. You know...the star."

She looked up. "Oh. They have names?"

He was silent for a moment, trying to process what she'd just said. "...Of course they have names. Didn't you…Didn't you learn about that sort of thing when you were a child?" Know-it-all Miss Holly didn't know the names of the stars?

Holly shrugged. "Maybe. I probably got rid of it."

"Got rid of what?"

"The names of the stars. I forgot about it."

"Wha—Why?"

"I didn't need the information," she replied shortly.

"But—" Bilbo spluttered. "It's—It's something that everyone just knows!"

She huffed and turned to face him. "But why should I care?" she argued impatiently. "Those stars could be named after foods, after bugs, they could have no names at all—it wouldn't make any difference! I only remember the truly important things; elsewise my head gets all cluttered."

Bilbo looked up at the stars, then back at Holly, dumbfounded.

"Maybe I'll start worrying about the names of these stars once someone flies up and visits them, or something," she continued. "Maybe we can, I dunno, use their light for something." Her face lit up with some sort of inspiration as well as the starlight.

The hobbit laughed weakly. "That's crazy."

"Crazy or genius, depends on if it works," she quipped, the light fading from her face.

There was a long silence.

"I think...enigma," Bilbo finally said.

"You what?"

"I take back what I said about you being strange. I believe enigma is the better word."

"Enigma…" Holly mused. Then she gave a small smile. Her face changed when she smiled, some of its sharp angles softening. "Not bad."

…

The next morning was so incredibly foggy that visibility was down to mere feet. The Company stumbled around, clearing their camp and muttering to each other just to make sure everyone was there.

Once Holly had packed up she turned to walk in the general direction of the rest of the Company and stumbled over someone's pack. The impact made a clattering sound that was distinctly unlike the sound of supplies normally taken on a journey. Holly cursed softly as Nori appeared from the fog and picked up the pack.

"Sorry, lass. That's mine."

"Obvio—I'm—It's all right. I should have seen where I was going," she replied civilly, remembering her manners.

"Not like you can see anything in this mess," the ginger dwarf commented, squinting through the gloom.

"Yeah…" Holly mumbled, gaze flitting over the vague shapes of the other dwarves through the fog, suddenly finding eye contact very hard to make.

"Hey, Holly." Nori elbowed her gently, causing her to look up. "I tried to grab the fog this morning...I mist."

She gave a half-exasperated laugh. "What?"

"I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. Then it dawned on me."

Holly glanced up at the completely obscured sky. "...Not really."

There was a brief silence and then Nori said, "Would you like to hear some more?"

"Only if you tell me what you've got hidden in your pack," she bargained. After all, his jokes weren't that bad.

"We'll see," was his only reply.

As the day wore on, Holly decided that Nori was perhaps the most tolerable of the members of the Company. He was rather clever and witty, and she almost enjoyed his bad puns. And it didn't hurt that he voluntarily talked to her.

That night, when they set up camp, Nori beckoned her over to where he had set up his bedroll.

After glancing around at the others to make sure they weren't in earshot, he opened his pack. "So, while I was in Rivendell, I did some...exploring...and it turns out that elves make almost everything out of gold and silver." He pulled out an ornate silver ladle.

Holly peered inside the bag. There was an assortment of kitchen utensils, goblets, and—was that a part of a chandelier peeking out? "You're a thief," she stated. She'd guessed it before, and now there was no doubt.

He simply winked at her. Again. "Takes one to know one."

"I'm not a thief!"

"But you could be one. I think you're clever enough."

Holly felt her cheeks grow hot. "I-If you say so."

"It just takes some practice," Nori continued, gathering his loot back into his bag.

"Do you practice on us?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Of course not! I would never steal from my friends. It's a funny story, really, how I got into the business. There I was, just enjoying a couple of ales—"

"Wait. Hold on. You said 'friends'...?"

Nori nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course, Holly. You're my friend."

After a few minutes of silence he said, "Is something wrong?"

"What are you two doing over there?" came Dori's cross voice. "Don't tell me you're trying to set up some sort of deal with Miss Holly!" Clearly Nori's older brother did not approve of his criminal activities.

"We're talking, obviously!" Nori called back. "What does it take for a dwarf to have an uninterrupted conversation around here, eh?"

"I should...probably get some rest, anyways." Holly quickly stood up. "Um...talk to you later."

Her heart was beating unnaturally fast. Friend. He actually considered her a friend. And he'd even said it out loud. What was she even supposed to say to that?

Was Nori her friend?

Holly decided to put it out of her mind—she didn't fancy considering all the troubles that would make themselves known if the answer to that question was yes.

Happy BOFA trailer one week and one day anniversary! I finally stopped crying over it!

Anyways, expect a new update pretty soon, seeing as I'm almost done with Ch. 9.

Thank you for all the support y'all give me and feel free to leave a review, it helps me out a lot!